Gunshot
by Ellenarnia
Summary: Something that could have happened in episode 5 concerning a gunshot. Disclaimer: I don't own The Crimson Field or any of the characters
1. Chapter 1

Hello. This is my first Crimson Field fanfiction. I've made an achievement. Anyway I won't go on like I normally do in my M I High ones. This is just a little thing I imagined that could have happen in episode 5. I'll stop now and get on with it.

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Grace took the glass from Gorman and he walked away back up to the hospital. She watched him go holding the glass by her side.

Ballard kept his eyes fixated on the glass. He knew he could have hit that glass if he tried. Why did she have to stop him? He took a spare bullet from the pocket of the coat. He always kept spare bullets, just in case people like Grace Carter took them from him. In his eyes she had stopped him from taking a victory from Gorman the sniper. He could see the glass when he was facing sideways on to it. He knew its position. As long as she didn't move her hand he could hit it without looking at it. He placed the spare bullet into the revolver. He lined it up with the position of the glass. He took a long breath. He could do this. He pulled the trigger.

BANG

Grace saw him pull the trigger and quickly turned to face him. She then felt pain rip through her stomach. Her hand instinctively went to the source of the pain. Looking down and taking her hand from over her stomach she saw the blood.

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That's where it ends. I'm sorry for shortness I'll try and make it longer if I do another chapter. I don't know if I should carry this on. Tell me what you think because I don't know.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello to you Crimson Field fans. How are you? Good I hope. I can't actually here your response but I do care. I like my audience to feel well. Here is the next chapter. I'm sorry it took a while but I'm sort of stuck for ideas but I promised I'd carry it on so here we go.

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Grace could see the blood pooling onto her dress. She knew it was deep by the amount of blood she could see pouring from the wound. **(Sorry about going into graphic detail about the injury but it is necessary) **She could feel the bullet sitting in her side. It wasn't causing her any real pain but she felt slightly dizzy from the blood loss.

Major Ballard stared in shock at what he had done. He was aiming for the glass. How could he have missed it? He knew its exact position yet he still failed to shatter the glass. He had watched as the bullet flew toward the glass. He could see, in his mind, that bullet hit the glass. Yet in reality it didn't. He had failed in his task and caused more bad than good.

She was used to seeing blood because of the men who came through the hospital with all manner of injuries but it was a shock for her to see it coming thick and fast from her side. She was definitely dizzy now. The trees around her were staring to spin and she didn't know which direction she was facing. Adding pressure to the wound was what nurses were trained to do in this situation but it hurt too much for her to keep a constant pressure on it. Her knees buckled. There was only a moment for her before everything went black.

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Drama enough for you. PLEASE tell me what you think should happen next because I don't know and without ideas there is no story. PM or review me your ideas. Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Hi again guys. Hoping you is alright. Here is the next chapter. It came along a lot faster than the 2nd because i got more ideas. Thanks for them. I chose this suggestion because I may do some fluff about Roland and Grace in the future. I'm not sure. I'll keep you posted on that. I'll stop talking now. You came here for the story not to hear me chatting to thin air.

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Roland had watched Ballad walk to the forest following Gorman. He wondered what they were doing but decided not to interfere. He had kept his eye on the edge of the forest though. Just out of curiosity but waiting for them to come back. He kept watching and waiting and after a while saw Grace go into the forest at the exact same point that Ballad and Gorman had half an hour before. After a few minutes trying to focus on paperwork from HQ he decided to follow them.

As he made his way through the forest he could hear gunshots. The sounds showed him a route that would lead to what, he could only see as a disaster. When the gunshots stopped the silence of the forest sent a shiver down his spine. Why had the shooting stopped? He then saw Gorman coming from a small clearing.

"Afternoon Sir. Nice day for a stroll."

"Gorman what were you doing?"

"Just a little shooting match sir. Major Ballad and I had a little wager. Seems he's not up to it though. Eyes are going. I would have been a goner if that nurse didn't step in."

Roland breathed a sigh of relief. Grace had managed to stop Ballad before a simple shooting match became much more sinister.

"Go back to your ward private."

"Course sir."

Gorman leaning on his crutches walked past Roland and back up towards the field hospital. After watching him walk back Roland started towards the clearing Gorman had come from but froze when he heard another singal gunshot ring out.

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Hope you liked. Will update next Sunday.


	4. Chapter 4

Again hello to you readers. Sorry I haven't updated for a bit. Been a bit busy, with stuff. Anyway onwards with the chapter.

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Several things flitted across his mind after hearing the single gunshot. The thoughts made him shudder in a fear he had never felt before. He didn't really like the thought of how any of the scenario's he had imagined would end up. Roland's feet seemed frozen to the ground as if roots had come from the forest floor and anchored him down. He pulled himself free from the invisible bonds and walked towards the clearing. He walked while trying to keep calm and not thinking too much about what he might find when he arrived.

He took one final breath before entering the clearing.

Nothing could prepare him for what he saw on entering the clearing. Major Ballad was holding a gun up. Pointing straight ahead toward the forest. His eyes then turned to the figure lying on the ground. He didn't need to look at her face because he knew who it was. Grace. His best friend who had been there for him, to comfort him, to help him, to care for him. He refocused his mind on the Ballard.

"Put the gun down Major."

Ballard's hand started to shake as Roland reached up and took the gun from him. Throwing it to the ground and out of reach. He went over to Grace.

"Grace can you hear me?"

He picked up her wrist and took her pulse. It was slow. Only 30 bpm. He saw the blood staining her dress and started to add pressure. She mumbled and opened her eyes.

"Roland…"

"You're going to be all right." He whispered trying to mask the fear in his voice

She shook her head "Wounds too deep."

"Don't say that. I'll get you back to the hospital and you'll be fine."

"Don't try and make it all right Roland." she said tearfully "That's the worse thing you can do now. You can't save me."

She closed her eyes and he watched her face. A tear slid from underneath her eyelid and settled on her cheek. He cupped her cheek and stroked away the single tear with his thumb. She looked ready to die, but he wasn't going to let that happen. He had seen too much of death in the soldiers that came into the hospital and he was going to let it happen to his best friend.

"Grace don't close your eyes. I'm not going to let you die." He said firmly

She obeyed for a while but the urge to let her eyelids fall shut overtook.

"Don't sleep Grace. Come on just open your eyes." The panic he had hidden rising to the surface in his voice. He applied more pressure to her wound and she whimpered in pain but didn't open her eyes.

"Grace please just open your eyes. I know you can do it, come on. Stay strong and open your eyes."

She didn't respond and checking her pulse again Roland found it getting slower. He could see the wound was deep and he knew she would need surgery if she was going to survive. He had experience of operating in the field but had found himself doing few operations since becoming CO. He cradled her in his arms, letting a few tears escape his eyes and fall into her hair before picking her up and starting at a brisk pace to the hospital.

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Hope you liked. A longer chapter this time. Will try to keep them long. Please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for lack of updates once again but another and final chapter for you here. This bit is after episode 6 by the way. I've done a bit of a time jump. Also tissue warning. Please collect tissues. I don't want you to cry over, keyboards, smartphones, or tablets.

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The rain pounded down hard on the corrugated metal roof. It had been pouring for the last week without stopping and the hospital was no longer in a field but a bath of mud. The ground had been churned up by the constant run of convoys coming through the gates filled with the injured and dead men who had come from the front. It had been raining over the trenches as well so mud had gotten into many of the men's wounds and infected them. This meant more amputations and more likely risks of death.

Roland had thought that the constant rain had reflected his mood perfectly. He and Pubright stood in the doorway, of what had more recently become their military courtroom. They had nearly sentenced Joan Livesey to death by firing squad but instead opted for imprisonment when her German lover had ridden in from out of the blue to save her. It was here Roland had found out that Freddie had died and now it would be here that they passed judgement on Major Ballard's actions.

The pair saw the figures of Ballard and the officer guarding him approach the outbuilding. They had both sat down by the time Ballard was brought in and stood in front of them. He looked very different form the man who had come from the convoy demanding to see the commanding officer. He seemed much more humble and quiet. A chair was offered to him but he chose to stand instead. He looked ashamed and full of regret at what he had done. Perhaps he did not deem himself worthy of sitting down or he preferred standing. Nobody knew the answer.

With a sigh Pubright started off his case

"Major Ballard, you are stand accused of murder if military nurse Grace Carter."

It had been the one day of the week that I did not rain. That was why they decided to bury her on that day. Most of the hospital staff had attended. Even Margaret had managed to find a sincere face to put on. Pubright had taken her death more seriously than anybody had expected. He had not cried, of course, with his stiff upper lip and years of military service, but he had been very quiet on the subject all the same and seemed very sincere in his words of remembering her. The VAD's seemed at a great loss without her. The nursing staff as a whole had looked up to her but especially the VAD's. They had trusted her, and now they had nobody to fill that trust for them. The nursing staff now had no matron to look up to. No one to take an example from.

Roland felt sorry for them all but they had not seen what he had. They could not feel the grief that he felt. He had carried her back to the hospital and seen her die in his arms. He was the one who was there when she took her final breath and said her final words. He was the one who had failed on his final promise to her. He had told her that everything would be alright; that he could save her. Even if she knew that he was lying he had still failed to even try. As he had walked back through the hospital he could see the faces of nursing staff and surgeons as she lay lifeless in his arms. He didn't have to say anything, one look and they seemed to understand. He had spent an hour maybe more crying in his office, for everyone to hear. When Pubright had arrived he had suggested that Roland should take some leave. He refused saying he would rather keep busy than go back to England and feel useless. Mainly he wanted to stay in France just to be close to Grace. To have her memory around him.

She was buried with the men that had died at the hospital, but in a small separate grave at the nursing team's request. Roland did not go with the procession up to the burial because he was sure that it would break him. He went alone, when the sun had set. He knelt before the small cross and let his tears fall onto the earth below.

The End

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